Schola Progenium
The Schola Progenium is an Imperium-wide organisation that acts as an orphanage for the children of Imperial personnel that died in service to the Imperium. Coming under the purview of the Ecclesiarchy, the Schola Progenium is a strict but exceptional school where the orphans (known as Progena) of the Imperium learn not only great faith in the Emperor but also valuable skills that allow them to contribute to humanity - a privilege in itself. Most Imperial worlds in the galaxy have a Schola Progenium though they vary greatly in size depending on the population of the world they are upon, and whilst no two Scholas will be exactly alike there are many broad similarities. Schola Life The youngest Progena will obviously be no more than babies, and these are cared for in communal nurseries until they are five years-old and able to begin their proper education. Such nurseries are ran by Sisters Hospitaller and will usually be the only period of a Progena's time at the Schola they feel cared about. Once the Progena has reached five years of age the Schola will provide them with exceptional education including high gothic speech; extensive Imperial history; frequent prayer sessions; basic combat skills & rigid discipline, and such lessons are administered by Drill Abbots/Abbesses. Typically older Imperial officials such as retired Imperial Guard officers or retired Sororitas, Drill Abbots/Abbesses are notoriously strict and unforgiving with their charges. Corporal punishment is common for older students and younger pupils - even as young as seven or eight - face penalties such as reduced food rations or laborious tasks for weeks-on-end if they fail to comply with an Abbots/Abbesses command. But whilst this may seem like cruelty it is an absolute necessity, for the galaxy is even less forgiving and these Progena are vital to the function of the Imperium. Once the Progena reach the age of eighteen their education at the Schola is complete. Every one will be a paragon of the Imperium with strong faith in the Emperor as well as healthy physical and mental fitness, along with extensive knowledge imparted to them on all manner of useful subjects. Most Imperial worlds in Sector Deus contain a Schola Progenium. The largest is located on Sarris V along with one of the Sector's two Storm Trooper academies (the other being on Athena Prime), and many important personnel across the sector are former Progena. Selection Day Now they have completed their primary education the Progena will have their Selection Day, the day that they are assigned their position in the gargantuan machine that is the Imperium. With all their talents, aptitudes and weaknesses carefully recorded by their Drill Abbots/Abbesses over the entire course of their education, the Progena will be selected by representatives of the organisation they will enter based on these attributes. Listed here are the many paths a Progena may take following Selection Day: Storm Troopers/Commissariat Those male Progena that show extreme discipline as well as an exceptional aptitude for combat will be inducted into a Storm Trooper academy. Here their basic combat training from the Schola will be augmented with advanced training; punishing drills; physical challenges; combat simulations and every gruelling combat trial imaginable to turn them into the very greatest soldier an unagmented human can become. Once their Storm Trooper training is complete they will be placed into one of the academy's Imperial Guard Storm Trooper regiments. Those that show a preference for close-quarters combat specifically will be sent to a Naval Stormtrooper academy, these function in much the same way as regular Storm Troopers except that they come under the purview of the Imperial Navy. Those Storm Trooper/Naval Stormtrooper cadets that show not only discipline and combat skills but also an uncanny charisma and ability to inspire their fellows will be inducted into the Commissariat. Here they become not just incredible soldiers but also the inspirational & terrifying figures Commissars must be. There are two Storm Trooper academies and one Naval Stormtrooper academy in Sector Deus. The Storm Trooper academies are located on Athena Prime & Sarris V, and the Naval Stormtrooper academy is on Emperors Rest. Adeptus Arbites Progena with strong will, determination and reasoning abilities will be inducted into the Imperium's official policing force, the Adeptus Arbites. Undergoing further training in matters of law and justice as well as drills in domestic combat situations such as riots, Arbites become experts at not only cracking heads & arresting criminals but also legal reasoning and situation defusion. Most Arbites in Sector Deus are trained on Sarris V, though every Arbites Precinct (of which there is at least one on almost every Imperial world) has a handful of cadets in training at any given time. The largest concentration of Arbites can be found on Penal Worlds, where Arbites from every planet in the sector serve rotating periods of duty overseeing the convict masses. Adepta Sororitas Female Progena who show intense faith in the Emperor - greater even than the already-strong faith exhibited by most Progena - will be selected for induction into the famed Adepta Sororitas. After preliminary training and testing at a Sororitas convent they will then be inducted whichever Order suits their talents most. Orders Dialogous for intelligence & memory; Orders Famulous for observance & sociability; Orders Hospitaller for technical ability & devotion; and Orders Militant for discipline & skill-at-arms. The Order of Bloody Tears is the primary Adepta Sororitas order in Sector Deus, with many convents across the region. Priesthood Male Progena who exhibit the same incredibly strong faith will instead be taken into the Ecclesiarchal Priesthood, given teachings at an Imperial Cathedral before taking on the position of Preacher. Imperial Military Progena that show a tendency towards the strategic and tactical elements of warfare rather than direct combat will be put into officer training for the Imperial Guard or Imperial Navy. Many of the most successful officers in the histories of these two cornerstones of the Imperium were educated at a Schola Progenium. Adeptus Astartes This differs from the other fates of a Progena in that it is not decided upon Selection Day. Progena are genetically tested when they arrive at the Schola and those very few males found to possess a genome suitable for Astartes augmentation will be put into advanced programs designed to make them the perfect aspirant. Consisting mostly of physical training, accelerated growth treatments & combat drills these programs give the Progena exceptional fitness and perception, and when the Progena reaches the age of thirteen they will be taken by the Astartes chapter and put through the many brutal trials and tests all aspirants must face. While many Progena fail these trials and become Chapter Serfs like most aspirants, they exhibit a far greater success rate than most sources. No such practice occurs in Sector Deus, as the only local chapter is the Ghosts of Retribution and they have earned the ire of the local Ecclesiarchy. Inquisition Progena that show the kind of dedication, intelligence, selflessness and sheer force-of-will required to become an Inquisitor will be taken in by the Inquisition and attached to an Inquisitor's retinue as Interrogator. Expected to learn on the job, these interrogators may eventually become Inquisitors themselves. Only a scant fraction of a fraction of Progena reach the lofty requirements set by the Inquisition to become a part of it, but latent psychic ability improves a Progena's chances of this selection dramatically. Officio Assasinorum Of all selections - even that of the Inquisition - selection by the Officio Assasinorum is by far the rarest. Only Progena that show near-superhuman physical fitness; reflexes that border on the preternatural; highly calculating minds; obsessive dedication; rapid decision-making; and finally some degree of mild psychopathy will be selected by the shadowy representatives of the Officio Assasinorum. In short only natural born killers will be taken onto the ships that will transport these Progena back to Terra to begin their assassin training. The trials for Assasinorum initiates begins on the journey to Terra, for the Assasinorum's transport ships are giant training facilities themselves. These gruelling trials are comparable to those undergone by Astartes aspirants and the failure rate is just as extreme. By the time the ship reaches Terra up to 90% - or even all - of the initiates will have been failed by the instructors (usually former assassins themselves) and returned to the Schola for re-selection (assuming they survived whatever caused them to fail, which isn't certain). Those few who make it to Terra can be counted among the most exceptional unaugmented humans in existence. Though unlike Storm Troopers - who are squad-based soldiers to the core - these initiates are calculating & independent warriors who work best alone. Finally at the School of Assassins, the remaining Progena will be divided up into the different Assassinorum temples based on aptitudes. Those who showed exceptional patience & discipline in overcoming their trials will be taken into the Vindicare temple; the few females who could pass the intense physical trials will mostly be inducted into the Callidus temple who's vital tool Polymorphine works best on the female genome (though males with compatible genome may also be accepted); and the most intelligent initiates will be split between the Vanus and Venenum temples based on whether their intelligence is more analytical or improvisational in nature. The only two exceptions to this selection process are the Culexus 'and '''Eversor '''temples. The Culexus temple recruits solely from psychic blanks and is constantly searching for blanks still young enough for induction - a hard task given that most blanks are forced to the fringes of society or even killed immediately after birth because of their disturbing souless aura. The Eversor temple recruits mostly from Feral Worlds, plucking up savage young boys that possess a genome compatible with the extensive cocktail of drugs the temple utilises and are young enough to be receptive to the temple's extreme growth-accelerant and physical-augmentation procedures. 'Administratum The majority of Progena fail to meet the lofty requirements set by the above organisations. Those that remain unselected after Selection Day will be inducted into the Administratum, these loyal souls happy to undertake the painfully monotonous but abolutely vital duties performed by an Adept of the Administratum. Using Progena for such a role also ensures that the Imperium's beaurocrats can defend themselves. More than one rebellious planet has tried to take control of their world's Administratum headquarters only to be repelled by Adepts utilising the combat skills they learned in their youth at the Schola. Category:Ecclesiarchy